Sachan Lalchand

Sachan Lalchand

Pakistan

Sachan, a graduate of Lahore University of Management Sciences, secured a 100% merit scholarship for three consecutive years, became the first generation of the family to achieve higher education, was the only Hindu from the batch of 2021 in business school, and secured leadership positions in Dramatics and Hum-Aahang student-run clubs at LUMS. However, it was not like that from the beginning.
At school age, I had never imagined a life beyond the boundaries of my hometown in rural Sindh. I was always in self-doubt because of being mocked at home and school for having a darker complexion and was called “Teeli (Matchstick)” for being underweight. However, it was due to my father’s big ambitions for us that my siblings and I moved to metro cities for better academic and social opportunities.
Standing for myself and my Hindu community was something that I learned pretty late in life. Before that, I outright avoided engaging in any conversation related to diversity and intolerance in society. Nevertheless, persuading the dean of student affairs to not call off the Diwali event just because of external pressures from a religious political party and to stand by the inclusivity mission of LUMS, following my passion for dancing even after being bullied by the floormates in my hostel for having feminine dance moves, to owning my academic achievements in front of toxic competition due to relative grading, I can now proudly say that I have come a long way but yet have so much more to explore and become a role-model for all those Sachans living in my hometown and other rural areas to never stop believing in themselves.